iGoogle, Netvibes, and Pageflakes are great but what if you want to run your own start page? There are a few PHP scripts scattered here and there on the web, some look awful, others are too bloated and slow. What most people need is something in between. I put this app together with that in mind.

Benefits

No database setup or file configuration required, it just works!

Quick access to your favorite sites without leaving the page

Easily add and remove links, no programming necessary

Elegant and unobtrusive interface. No distractions.

Screenshots

Usage/Installation

Your personal Start Page is extremely simple to get running. In fact, it doesn’t require any configuration at all. There are only three steps to get it running.

Download (below) and unzip the files

Upload them to your web host

Make sure the data folder has write permissions

It’s that easy. You can now browse to your Start Page and get going.

Extra Protection

It might not be the best idea to leave your Start Page open to the world. I recommend adding some basic password protection, either through your web host or with an .htaccess file. You can use the .htaccess password generator at Dynamic Drive to set it up. All you have to know is the absolute path to the Start Page app.

Geeky Details

Although this is just a simple Start Page there are some really fun Javascript and PHP things going on. Here are some of the geeky features:

Potential

The personal Start Page has a lot of potential! It could easily be expanded to support notes, widgets, categories, multiple layouts, in-place editing, ordering and more. Feel free to have a go at it. And if you make some changes that could benefit us all make sure to send us the code so we can post it here.

Download

We hope that you will enjoy these continuing features that we will be rolling out at Devlounge. Dustin will be posting about “code” every Monday. Don’t miss also Dee writing about “strategy” on Tuesdays, Lorraine on “design” every Wednesday, David on “webapps” every Thursday and then of course on Fridays, Ia with “Friday Focus” where she features a collection of interesting designs.